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Tower District
The Slums, officially known as the Tower District, is home to a large number of dispossessed and poverty-stricken individuals in the shadow of the Diamond Spire, a haunting, self-contained structure rising nearly 1,800 feet from the surrounding wasteland. History Following the 1964 removal of height restrictions on building in Paradigm City, a novel, futurist-goaled arcology project was proposed. It was to be as self-sufficient as possible, able to support a population of 20,000, and feature a state-of-the-art university and hospital system in its upper levels, with a hydroponic greenhouse spanning much of the topmost deck. Visually, the Spire presages aspects of the silhouettes of the CN and Canton Towers, but bears a much wider habitation platform supported by a ring of high-tension cables that anchor to the desert floor. Construction began in the early 1970s but, due to economic, technological, and social obstacles, progress faltered and stagnated, leaving the tower only partially-complete to this day. Early attention was directed in a top-down approach, establishing the primary infrastructure and finishing the elite residences and facilities at the top first, then gradually filling out the lower areas. Most of the unskilled labour involved in the construction was supplied by the convenient and inexpensive migrant workers and destitute homeless who, over time, established a sprawling community of hovels and tin shacks at the tower's base. Towards the end of the 1970s, the Spire's habitation module was sealed from the inside, and encrypted communications with the Paradigm City Council oversight committee led to an official announcement that the Tower District would be quarantined to ensure containment a virulent disease reportedly consuming the inhabitants of the Spire. As far as almost all of the outside world is aware, the habitation module of the Spire is now a tomb for those that were inside when the lockdown happened. A tall fence built around the District turned out to be a mere formality, as the wild rumours of the actual effects of the disease, inhospitable wasteland around the Slums, and destitution of its inhabitants usually prove sufficient barriers to any parties seeking entrance or exit. The only way into and out of the District is a shining thread of a bridge, ten miles long, connecting the upper levels of the tower to the Pomona Freeway/Route 710 interchange. Access to this link is through a secondary scaffold and elevator system outside the Spire connected to a fortified bunker at ground-level. The City assigned a task force augmented by a number of CDC personnel to administer the needs of the population of the District and monitor conditions around the Spire itself to ensure what happened inside stays inside, and, in case of breach, detonate Cobalt bombs installed at strategic locations to protect Paradigm City from disaster. Routinely rotated on three-month shifts, the Welfare and Human Assistance Management teams are directed by a self-styled petty governor named Mitch Furth. The Districts The Tower district only has two districts that are recognized as such, with the Spire directly in the heart of the area so that it dominates the skyline. Checkpoint Zero is the last approachable area open to the public. The Route 710 interchange takes a visitor to the Thread Bridge and then directly into the Checkpoint, which is where the families of the Department of Defense, Center for Disease Control, and Olympic Industries live and work as they constantly monitor activities in and around the Spire. Nobody without prior authorization from Mitchel Furth or the Governor is allowed past the Checkpoint. The Pit is the colloquial name for the urban wasteland of tenements, apartment buildings, and long abandoned businesses that once hummed with life in the Seventies. The only residents that live in the Pit now are the utterly destitute, the mad, and roving gangs of Chromatic Dragons and Creepshow. The Pit is most often where the malignant entity named La Sombra by the locals often appears. But even in this horrible place there is hope; for where La Sombra manifests Starlight Angel is not far behind and she, and she alone, is the only thing that can spur the residents on to come out and cheer for the glittering hero. Of interest to some is the fact that the hero Chinchilla has been spotted her many times either doing what she can to keep peace and order or, sometimes, sitting for hours motionless and staring at the burnt out husk of what once must have been a truly magnificent home. Rumours & Legends Tales are told of ragged groups of near-feral individuals occupying the semifinished middle levels of the Spire, thuggish brutes perpetually fighting in a lawless area to impose individual power over each other. Whether these are former work-gang bosses, construction workers left behind, or just a myth is not known. Angelita de la Luz Estrella, or Starlight Angel, is a golden phantom that is whispered among the children to appear to the most downtrodden in time of need to fight off vicious miedocosas, inky black creatures that are drawn to despair and devour their victims from the inside, leaving hollow shells that only look human. Bulky, armoured vans have been seen on rare occasions leaving and returning to the WHAM compound, the people inside wearing full hazmat gear and face-concealing rebreathers. This van is associated with disappearances, but there are more people that go missing than can be explained by the mystery vehicle. The radio stations talk about superheroes and supervillains that fight all around the City. There are none of either that the residents of the Slums can call their own, unless you consider the children's fabled Angelita de la Luz Estrella. Category:Districts Category:Paradigm City